Information sources and vaccination in the COVID-19 pandemic

Among the issues that remained contentious throughout the pandemic was vaccination: its efficacy, side effects, and the general reluctance of a substantial segment of the population to get vaccinated. The aim of this paper is to understand the role of health information sources in anti-vaccination sentiment and the decision to vaccinate. Regression models were used to analyze data from an online survey of adults in the United States in late 2021 (n = 10,221). The results of the study showed that: (a) information from local and national health experts had a significant positive association with getting the COVID-19 vaccine and a negative relationship with holding anti-vaccination sentiments while (b) information from social media and community/religious leaders had the opposite effect. Overall, this study highlights the importance of public health systems in the dissemination of information on vaccinations during pandemics

Gender and science in developing areas: Has the internet reduced inequality?

Objective. This article examines the impact of the Internet on the research careers of female scientists in three developing areas: Ghana, Kenya, and Kerala, India. Most empirical studies of gender and science focus on the developed world, yet theoretical accounts emphasize more extreme differences in developing areas. Limited evidence from Africa and Asia shows gender inequity is restricted to a few key dimensions, broadly related to differences in human and social capital. Specifically, women are less likely to acquire an advanced degree and more likely to experience educational and organizational localism. Such localism is related to constraints on physical mobility that are widely expected to diminish with the introduction of the Internet. Methods. Using longitudinal data on 1,147 scientists in Ghana, Kenya, and south India, we examine gender differences in human and social capital by conducting a series of t tests and chi-square tests. Results. We show that higher education and Internet access increased dramatically, but localism has not been reduced significantly and may be increasing. Conclusions. This finding casts doubt on the presumption that the removal of communication constraints will soon reduce career differentials resulting from the mobility constraints on women professionals. © 2006 Southwestern Social Science Association

Perceptions of the Research Climate in Universities and National Research Institutes: The Role of Gender and Bureaucracy in Three Low-Income Countries

This article examines the relationship between sex and sector of employment and perceptions of the research climate among a sample of researchers in three lowincome areas: Ghana, Kenya, and Kerala India. Using data gathered in 2010 from scientists working in universities and national research institutes, we address the following questions: 1) Are there differences in men’s and women’s assessment of the research environment in terms of their satisfaction with funding, ratings of problems associated with communication and coordination, and sense of autonomy? 2) Do contextual factors— primarily sector of employment but also controlling for home region—account for these differences? 3) Does the effect of sex vary across sector and location? 4) Are there other factors—family status, education, and experience—that mediate the relationship between sex, context and perceptions of the work environment? Findings indicate that female scientists’ satisfaction with funding is governed by national context rather than institutional context, while their sense of autonomy and experience with problems related to communication and coordination is governed by institutional contexts. By engaging with the literature on the gendered nature of bureaucracy, our results provide insight into the features of organizations that shape male and female researchers’ experiences

Preparing isiXhosa home language teachers for the 21st century classroom: Student teachers' experiences, challenges and reflections

The aim of the article is to identify the gaps between theory and practice in pre-service teacher training with special reference to the teaching of isiXhosa as a home language in the Further Education and Training (FET) phase (Grades 10–12) in some Western Cape high schools. The article is based on data that was collected from Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) students taking isiXhosa (home language) as one of their teaching method subjects as part of their pre-service training. The data were collected by means of an open-ended questionnaire, semi-structured interviews and an analysis of student teachers’ reflective journals. The article provides an analysis of PGCE students’ experiences and reflections on the teaching of isiXhosa as a home language in schools. It argues that if there is a gap between theory underpinning initial pre-service training and actual practice in schools, there will be no significant improvement in the teaching of isiXhosa as a home language. It concludes by proposing ways of improving both pre-service and in-service teacher education practice to develop African languages as academic or intellectual languages at school level

A qualitative exploration of the experiences of veterans who are serving sentences in custody

The focus on veterans in research is not a novel topic; however, the majority of studies are related to trauma, employment, mental health, suicide, and substance misuse. The Criminal Justice System involvement with veterans is a topic that has yet to be examined to a great extent. This study, conducted with adult male prisoners, elicited information from six veterans regarding their experiences of being in the armed forces, leaving the armed forces and becoming involved in the Criminal Justice System. Responses were evaluated using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) and three main themes were identified: “you’re baptised into the army”, ‘them and us,’ and ‘operational mind set’; each of which comprised a number of superordinate themes. The research highlights that, although it is important to acknowledge the heterogenic nature of this group, it is equally important to note that much of their thinking and behaviour may be similar to those that have not had these experiences. As such, there is a need to reduce the notion that they are separate and different to other prisoners, requiring different treatment. The study highlights that many of the Offending Behaviour Programmes and interventions already available to prisoners would be appropriate for this group. The current research supports the merit in creating a service in prisons that will allow for ex-servicemen to meet together and access the support that is available to them. The implications of the research are discussed further

Corporate reputation past and future: a review and integration of existing literature and a framework for future research

The concept of corporate reputation is steadily growing in interest among management researchers and practitioners. In this article, we trace key milestones in the development of reputation literature over the past six decades to suggest important research gaps as well as to provide contextual background for a subsequent integration of approaches and future outlook. In particular we explore the need for better categorised outcomes; a wider range of causes; and a deeper understanding of contingencies and moderators to advance the field beyond its current state while also taking account of developments in the macro business environment. The article concludes by presenting a novel reputation framework that integrates insights from reputation theory and studies, outlines gaps in knowledge and offers directions for future research

Team size matters : collaboration and scientific impact since 1900

This paper provides the first historical analysis of the relationship between collaboration and scientific impact, using three indicators of collaboration (number of authors, number of addresses, and number of countries) and including articles published between 1900 and 2011. The results demonstrate that an increase in the number of authors leads to an increase in impact–-from the beginning of the last century onwards—and that this is not simply due to self-citations. A similar trend is also observed for the number of addresses and number of countries represented in the byline of an article. However, the constant inflation of collaboration since 1900 has resulted in diminishing citation returns: larger and more diverse (in terms of institutional and country affiliation) teams are necessary to realize higher impact. The paper concludes with a discussion of the potential causes of the impact gain in citations of collaborative papers

Bibliometric factors associated with h-index of Peruvian researchers with publications indexed on Web of Science and Scopus databases

The objective of this article is: a) to identify Peruvian researchers with high, medium and low impact factor according to Web of Science and Scopus databases; b) to identify the bibliometric factor with the highest influence on h-index of Peruvian esearchers; c) to compare h-index between Web of Science and Scopus, at an individual and institutional level. Data were collected from Web of Science and Scopus (189 Peruvian researchers, 28 institutions on Web of Science and 33 on Scopus), between September 1823, 2013. Then, institutional registries were created and linear regression analysis with stepwise procedure was run to identify bibliometric factors with higher influence on the h-index of Peruvian researchers. Web of Science and Scopus showed interesting simmilarities in the h-index of Peruvian academic institutions. At individual level, documents indexed in citation database had the highest influence on the h-index. Regression model identified bibliometric factors with higher influence on the h-index of Peruvian researchers, however further large scale studies are needed to improve external validity

Gold Mining in the Peruvian Amazon: Global Prices, Deforestation, and Mercury Imports

Many factors such as poverty, ineffective institutions and environmental regulations may prevent developing countries from managing how natural resources are extracted to meet a strong market demand. Extraction for some resources has reached such proportions that evidence is measurable from space. We present recent evidence of the global demand for a single commodity and the ecosystem destruction resulting from commodity extraction, recorded by satellites for one of the most biodiverse areas of the world. We find that since 2003, recent mining deforestation in Madre de Dios, Peru is increasing nonlinearly alongside a constant annual rate of increase in international gold price (∼18%/yr). We detect that the new pattern of mining deforestation (1915 ha/year, 2006–2009) is outpacing that of nearby settlement deforestation. We show that gold price is linked with exponential increases in Peruvian national mercury imports over time (R2 = 0.93, p = 0.04, 2003–2009). Given the past rates of increase we predict that mercury imports may more than double for 2011 (∼500 t/year). Virtually all of Peru's mercury imports are used in artisanal gold mining. Much of the mining increase is unregulated/artisanal in nature, lacking environmental impact analysis or miner education. As a result, large quantities of mercury are being released into the atmosphere, sediments and waterways. Other developing countries endowed with gold deposits are likely experiencing similar environmental destruction in response to recent record high gold prices. The increasing availability of satellite imagery ought to evoke further studies linking economic variables with land use and cover changes on the ground